Help - If you could apply all over again...

[zimmie256]

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For those of you who are in med school now or have already finished, what do you love/hate about your school? If you could apply all over again, knowing what you know now, what are the most important things you would look for in a school and why? I'm applying now, and am looking for insight into where to apply beyond making sure my #s are competitive, etc. I realize that this is a subjective question and I need to figure out what will work for me personally, but I'd still like to hear what you all think, since you're several steps ahead of me on this. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[ddmo]

I would ask about how much busy work they require to do. Some schools make you do way too much, and there's no time for that in med school. I think one of the biggest positives about my school is that there is almost no busy work as in pointless quizes, papers, etc.

 

[zimmie256]

I would ask about how much busy work they require to do. Some schools make you do way too much, and there's no time for that in med school. I think one of the biggest positives about my school is that there is almost no busy work as in pointless quizes, papers, etc.

Thanks for the feedback ddmo. Anybody else have any input or opinions on this? Anything about your school's curriculum? Social environment/types of students? Clinical opportunities? School's resources/facilities? Any feedback is appreciated...

 

[star6927]

Thanks for the feedback ddmo. Anybody else have any input or opinions on this? Anything about your school's curriculum? Social environment/types of students? Clinical opportunities? School's resources/facilities? Any feedback is appreciated...

Hey guys,
Like zimmie, I am in the process of applying to medical school and the books can only help so much. I see the MCAT scores and the GPA, but how do I know if these are places I will want to be at for 4 years? Do I need to wait until the interview to have the "feel" of a school? And anyone at a school with PBL, again I have read about it, what are your feelings about it? Oh BTW this is my first post, so I don't know if I am doing this exactly right (But I have been reading many threads from the sight since right around when I took the MCAT, I am a little shy, even on the computer)...but thanks in advance for all the help!!!!

 

[pristine21]

I agree with the busy work stuff, cause my school has a lot of it (Albany Med) Evidence based health care and health care and society are a big pain in the but, but I find that a supportive environment ie: will give u extra time to take tests if u need it, will provide free tutoring, as well as help out financially and psychologically if u need it... very imp, but dont ask the administration because they will think you doubt yourself, ask students at the school...

 

[diosa428]

For those of you who are in med school now or have already finished, what do you love/hate about your school? If you could apply all over again, knowing what you know now, what are the most important things you would look for in a school and why? I'm applying now, and am looking for insight into where to apply beyond making sure my #s are competitive, etc. I realize that this is a subjective question and I need to figure out what will work for me personally, but I'd still like to hear what you all think, since you're several steps ahead of me on this. Thanks in advance for your input.

I haven't started med school yet, so I can't give you much insight, but based on your mdapps profile, here are my thoughts. UVM is a pain to apply to from out of state, Howard gives preference to minorities (or something like that?), Loyola is Christian and Gtown is Catholic. Gtowns stats are also decieving b/c they accept a bunch of people out of some post bacc program or special master's program or something, so the people they accept during normal admissions usually have higher stats than their averages (and their secondary fee is like $100). Not saying any of these are bad things, just things you may want to consider when cutting down your list.

 

[TexPre-Med]

I haven't started med school yet, so I can't give you much insight, but based on your mdapps profile, here are my thoughts. UVM is a pain to apply to from out of state, Howard gives preference to minorities (or something like that?), Loyola is Christian and Gtown is Catholic. Gtowns stats are also decieving b/c they accept a bunch of people out of some post bacc program or special master's program or something, so the people they accept during normal admissions usually have higher stats than their averages (and their secondary fee is like $100). Not saying any of these are bad things, just things you may want to consider when cutting down your list.

If you have the money though, apply to everywhere possible. You never know who will accept or reject you. I was very pleasantly surprised and did better than i thought i would. Remember (hopefully) you only apply once, so give it your best shot.

I think that the most important decision in choosing a med school is location. I can't stress it enough. I am confidant that no matter what any med school throws at me, I could handle it; however, I wouldn't have been nearly as comfortable in most places. Many people would love to attend med school in New York, but me - no way. I like warm weather and a calm environment. I interviewed at St. Louis. It had great academics and people but IMO it was the ugliest school I've ever seen. For those that have been there already - remember the tunnel of death? Still I bet many St. Louisans would not prefer to attend school in Lubbock, TX. Tech - yeah it was my dream school.

Think about what environment would make you happiest. When you are happy, you'll study more, study harder, and enjoy life.

 

[vtucci]

Apply early (as early as you can)
Check to make sure the schools receive your transcripts and LORs (you would not believe the number of schools who lose this info)
Review your file and SDN Interview Feedback before interviewing
Ask students about busy work and how responsive the faculty is to making changes or listening to student input (USF is great at this)
Find out about the admin staff-- are they user friendly
Get the match lists if you are not provided with them

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Apply early (as early as you can)
Check to make sure the schools receive your transcripts and LORs (you would not believe the number of schools who lose this info)
Review your file and SDN Interview Feedback before interviewing
Ask students about busy work and how responsive the faculty is to making changes or listening to student input (USF is great at this)
Find out about the admin staff-- are they user friendly
Get the match lists if you are not provided with them

Great stuff, I'm just going to flesh it out a bit.

Apply EARLY, be the nerdy kid who submits his AMCAS on the first possible day.

Learn how to read a match list, but recognize that they vary wildly from year to year. Sometimes no one matched in Ophtho b/c no one wanted to...

Look at ciriculum, this is a huge part of your life in the first two years. I didn't really care about it and applied all over, but now I realize that our ciriculum is one of the things I like most about my school.

 

[DizzyNT]

clinical exposure
research opportunities
if you have an interest in a specific specialty (don't worry most don't or end up changing their mind) see if the program has strong presence in that area/research/residency etc.
location - close to home? middle of nowhere? city? small town? - your call on what you like
i would guess a lot of stuff like busy work and such would be hard to ask admissions but talk to current students at prospective students if you know any
like others said apply early and widely then choose from where you get in

 

[Mike59]

For those of you who are in med school now or have already finished, what do you love/hate about your school? If you could apply all over again, knowing what you know now, what are the most important things you would look for in a school and why? I'm applying now, and am looking for insight into where to apply beyond making sure my #s are competitive, etc. I realize that this is a subjective question and I need to figure out what will work for me personally, but I'd still like to hear what you all think, since you're several steps ahead of me on this. Thanks in advance for your input.

Having just graduated, I think I can lend a few points to think about when deciding where to apply...It's tough to figure out when all you have are websites/TheMSAR etc. Overall, you need to apply broadly at this point and use the interview period to tease things out and filter out the schools you wouldn't want.

1. LIFESTYLE
The most overall important factor should be your quality of life/happiness IN and OUTSIDE of school. This means the city, the part of town, amentities, where you would live, cost of living, all those things are crucial to your sanity. If you know FOR SURE you wouldn't want to live in Baltimore or Houston for example, don't waste your time applying there! Also, tuition is a bigger factor than premeds (and most med-students) realize. The debt you take on now dictates how you will spend your 30's, and sadly many Doctors these days live "like residents" for a REALLY long time because of their debtload.

2. ATMOSPHERE
Ask students at that school how stressed they are around exam time, how are the profs and staff overall (bitter, nice?). Does the school itself have a good vibe? Do you like the labs and lecture halls, library? Are the hospitals modern and clean or are they run down and grungy? This is going to be your home away from home, you might as well like it!

3. ACADEMICS
The PBL vs. lecture this is HUGE. I chose a PBL school based on my learning preferences and don't regret it one bit. I would've been miserable in lecture halls and chose my med school accordingly. USMLE pass rates and match lists are a secondary issue cause anyone can end up anywhere if they work hard enough, it's alot of luck as well, not just school-rep. Testing is also very important. I chose a school where students aren't ranked, this takes a lot of stress out of the game which is nice.

Best of luck!

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

Find out how much time you get to study for Step 1. Oh, and a P/F school if at all possible.

 

[StudentDoc327]

For those of you who are in med school now or have already finished, what do you love/hate about your school? If you could apply all over again, knowing what you know now, what are the most important things you would look for in a school and why? I'm applying now, and am looking for insight into where to apply beyond making sure my #s are competitive, etc. I realize that this is a subjective question and I need to figure out what will work for me personally, but I'd still like to hear what you all think, since you're several steps ahead of me on this. Thanks in advance for your input.

Make sure to keep in mind that in-state tuition in a lot of states could save you 40-80k depending on your state. I pay 10k a year in Texas because I am a resident. Out of state would have been 20-30k a year depending on the school. Now this may not be true, but from what ive noticed it is usualy only the pre-meds who say the money shouldnt be an issue. Most of us that have been through medical school and know people in other medical schools will tell you that it is a HUGE if not the biggest issue. Truth is medical school is what you make of it, how much you study and how hard you work. You aren't gonna be a super star right out of medical school because you went to one school. Residency is where it makes a real difference, that is where you become an excellent clinician. Good luck in whatever you decide is right for you.


I would however recommend a decent location (eg. not in the middle of nowhwere) and staying away from A B C D grading system. H/HP/P/F is a great thing.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I would seek out more opinions from MS-4's, 3's, and recent graduates, take MS-2 opinions with a huge grain of salt, and ignore the opinions of MS-1's.

 

[DeigoT]

I would however recommend a decent location (eg. not in the middle of nowhwere) and staying away from A B C D grading system. H/HP/P/F is a great thing.

I may be wrong, but I thought these two system of grading were pretty much the same, and the only one that really made your life easier was P/F.

 

[StudentDoc327]

I may be wrong, but I thought these two system of grading were pretty much the same, and the only one that really made your life easier was P/F.

Not exactly...

H ~ top 10% of class
HP ~ 10-50% of class
P ~ the rest all they way down to 70 (the bottom half of the class)
F ~ below 70 (couple of people per class)

so in a class of 100, roughly: 10 w/ honors, 40 with HP, 48 with P, 2 with F


H ends up being like an A+/A and is not regarded as something that everyone should necessarily have or have a lot of. HP ends up being like A/A- down to a B- or so and is pretty easy to make if you work hard. P is like C/D. I think this is the best system if you are an above average student but not necessarily at the very top of the class (it was the best for me anyway). It makes it hard to distinguish b/w A and B students. It takes the pressure off of always being on your 'A' game. The P/F system would be good if you just want to get by, nobody would be able to tell if you were making 70's or 90's. Like I said, the H/HP/P/F system works best for me. It made things not be so stressful all of the time.

 

[Tiki]

I may be wrong, but I thought these two system of grading were pretty much the same, and the only one that really made your life easier was P/F.

It is at my school. 😉

I think that location was the most important thing for me. I wanted to be close to my friends and family. While there were times I had wished for P/F grading, now that I'm done with my first two years I can't say that the grading scale really mattered all that much.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Make sure to keep in mind that in-state tuition in a lot of states could save you 40-80k depending on your state. I pay 10k a year in Texas because I am a resident. Out of state would have been 20-30k a year depending on the school. Now this may not be true, but from what ive noticed it is usualy only the pre-meds who say the money shouldnt be an issue. Most of us that have been through medical school and know people in other medical schools will tell you that it is a HUGE if not the biggest issue. Truth is medical school is what you make of it, how much you study and how hard you work. You aren't gonna be a super star right out of medical school because you went to one school. Residency is where it makes a real difference, that is where you become an excellent clinician. Good luck in whatever you decide is right for you.


I would however recommend a decent location (eg. not in the middle of nowhwere) and staying away from A B C D grading system. H/HP/P/F is a great thing.

Wow, that makes me bitter about living in a state that doesn't technically have a state school. Instead, we have a "public corporation" that doesn't really give much in the way of preference to instate applicants. It just sucks. For those of you lucky enough to live in states that actually like their instate residents, be happy. For those of us who didn't have the option, don't tell us we're stupid or financially irresponsible for not going to our state school.

 

[ADDchild]

Besides the already mentioned advise. I would narrow down your list to a couple of favorites(not saying that you shouldn't apply to them) so that you can look for someone who is a student at that school, i.e. find someone who is mentioned in a leadership role on their website or ask the school for a student contact(makes you look proactive you can also mention this in your interview making you look like you part of the "gang" already--med school name dropping, can only help). Ask them a few questions, How supportive is the administration(is really a big deal) find out if they make you feel like they are lucky to have you(good) or if they make you feel you are lucky to be there(not good), also how supportive(read competitive) their classmates are. It's good to be competitive with other schools but not your classmates- they are one of your best resources for learning. Ask how well they felt prepared for NBME subject exams/Step1.

I don't feel you should completely ignore MS1's although they haven quite seen it all, definitely listen to MS2's and MS4's, MS3's(which I'll be in 2 weeks) should be too busy to post here

Good Luck